Super Bowl XLV: The ads you missed, Canada

Did you watch the Super Bowl on CTV Sunday night? The Canadian network blocked the much-hyped U.S. commercials and punted away the second the Vince Lombardi trophy was placed in the hands of the owner of the Green Bay Packers. CTV was probably fed up running Fox promos for that Glee after show carried in Canada by a competitor. The quick switch over to the TSN studio caught the feed flipper napping, however, allowing a few seconds of a winking TSN host to baffle Fox viewers. What followed in Canada was a rare, 20 minute window on the U.S. ads running on the Fox post show package. Canadians got to see one of the best last night after Green Bay QB Aaron Rogers was named game MVP and was awarded a spiffy new Chev. An ad for the sports car followed which looked like a cheapo local car dealer ad but quickly morphed into a big budget, special effects-filled Transformer movie plug:

CTV crammed in plenty of plugs for their Flashpoint season finale in their Super Bowl coverage, as well as flagging news shows Mr. Sunshine (which premieres in Canada tonight) and American Idol. They aired a few pep rallies for their upcoming Olympic anniversary replay, but don’t expect eleventy billion-million to clamour back for that.Otherwise CTV pretty much aired the same Five Dollar Foot Long Subway ads they usually run. Canadians can see the Super Bowl ads they missed on line, where YouTube has a channel dedicated to them. The ones I like best are posted below.This VW ad seems like an instant classic. It is simple and beautifully set up, just charming without being forced. The John Williams score really sells it:

A well written, beautifully shot, two-minute long Chrysler ad featuring Eminem also rocked. It made you want to both buy a Chrysler and visit Detroit! The narration (“What does a town that’s been to hell and back know about the finer things in life?”) is by Michigan native Kevin Yon:

The NFL itself bought time and used it to connect generations of TV fans to the big game. The spot featured familiar faces from The Brady Bunch, Happy Days, Cheers, The Simpsons, The Sopranos, Seinfeld, Alf, Glee, Modern Family, The Office, 90210 and others, all getting together for their big Super Bowl parties, and wearing (through computer magic) gear from their favorite football teams. Everything was digitally manipulated; when Fonzie taps the TV screen, the big game comes on:

Another bull eye for me was a simple Fox promo for House. Hugh Laurie steps in for Mean Joe Green in an echo of a classic cola spot. Nice: